


What is the Plural of Iron Man?

by PinkPandorafrog



Series: Advent Calendar 2020 [25]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Babyfic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28315383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkPandorafrog/pseuds/PinkPandorafrog
Summary: Darcy wasn't surprised to wake up and find the other side of the bed empty.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Tony Stark
Series: Advent Calendar 2020 [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035660
Comments: 10
Kudos: 146





	What is the Plural of Iron Man?

**Author's Note:**

> December 25's prompt is holiday crafting.

Darcy wasn’t at all surprised to wake up to find the bed next to her empty. It had been that way when she’d gone to sleep some… She grabbed her phone off the bedside table and checked the time. Three hours ago. Three hours. It was probably time for her to coax Tony into bed.

She sat up and swung her feet over the side of the mattress. While it wasn’t surprising that her bed companion wasn’t there, it was a bit odd that the other occupant of their room was also gone. She wasn’t  _ worried _ ; she figured she knew exactly where Piper was. It was just a little weird that Piper would be gone and she’d slept through the whole thing.

She grabbed a warm, fuzzy robe in deference to the chill and in case anyone  _ else _ happened to walk into Tony’s lab, and some slippers, and headed for the elevator. A yawn slipped out as she headed for the proper floor.

Tony was definitely in his lab - visible through the glass walls as soon as the elevator doors slid smoothly open. It looked like Piper was in the bassinet he’d set up for her there. Getting closer revealed Piper to be fast asleep, having succumbed to the gentle rock of her little bed.

“Hey,” she said as she stepped into the room.

Tony looked up from his workbench and offered her a brief smile. “Hey, shortstack.” He looked tired, which wasn’t a surprise. This was a hard time of year for him, what with the anniversary of his parents’ death. He tended to work himself to exhaustion before he could fall asleep.

She went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist before resting her chin against his upper arm. “What’s going on?”

“Piper woke up and insisted on coming down here and helping me instead of getting you up.” He set the tiny screwdriver he’d been holding on the bench, and his hands rested over hers. 

“Did she?” Darcy kissed Tony’s shoulder through the sleeve of his black long-sleeved t-shirt. “That was very thoughtful of her.”

“Her generosity can’t be contained. Oh, and she single-handedly solved the issue I’ve been having with the X-317.” He motioned to the neighboring bench, on which rested the thing Tony had been working on. The X-317, whatever that was.

“I’m surprised she helped out. Usually she’s much more concerned with getting cuddles and boobs.” Although she would take a bottle, and Tony was happy to get up with her as long as Darcy had managed to pump during the day for her.

“She agreed on one condition. She said I had to make a mobile for her.” He motioned to the jumble on the table in front of him.

Darcy forced her eyes to sort through the mess. It was a lot of pieces, but she was pretty sure she picked out some Iron Mans. Iron Men? “What’s the plural of Iron Man?”

“Huh.” Tony twisted his head back to look down at her. “You know, I’m not sure.”

“We’ll have to ask your budding genius the next time she wakes up.” A glance over showed Piper was still deep asleep. She was great like that. Once she fell asleep, she’d sleep through a parade. And had. It was just the  _ getting _ to sleep that sometimes proved a problem. “And doesn’t she have a mobile already?” They called it a mobile, even though it was really just three tiny Iron Man suits set to fly in a circle over her bed. She was entranced by them, even more than the ceiling fan. She’d just stare, occasionally cooing at them and waving a chubby fist.

“Ah, but not a  _ Christmas _ one.” One of Tony’s coping mechanisms for getting through December was going  _ way _ overboard with Christmas decorations. Thinking about it, it had really only been a matter of time before he did something like this.

“Right. Okay, father-of-my-spawn, show me what you’ve made.” She let him go and took half a step back so he had some space to move around.

He picked up the four little Iron Mans from the bench. Two carried red and green presents, and two had on Santa hats. He set them flying one by one at about eye-level.

Darcy smiled as she watched them fly around and around. Apparently the trick was to get them to fly fast enough to stay up, but slow enough for a baby’s developing eyesight to track them. “You did good, Man of Iron.”

“ _ Just _ good?” Tony plucked them each out of the air and shut them down before setting them back on the table. “I did pretty damn spectacular with them.”

“Of course you did.” Darcy waited until he was done before slipping her arms around his waist again. “Now you should be pretty damn spectacular at coming to bed.”

“How can I resist an invitation like that?” His own arm came around her, and he turned until he could press a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re going to have to move the baby.” He considered Piper for a moment. “She’s probably going to want to eat.”

He was probably right. “Oh thank god I still have my boobs.”

“I say that same thing nearly every day.” He offered her a grin before slipping across the room to turn the bassinet off and pick Piper up.

She grunted as he picked her up, fussing a little as he settled her against his shoulder. She was still definitely sleepy, but as they took the elevator back up to the apartment, she started grunting like she did when she was looking for boobs.

“Okay,” Darcy soothed, patting Piper’s back. “We’ll be there soon.”

She took Piper as they headed into their apartment. While Tony stripped to get into bed, she sat in the rocking chair at the side of the room and opened the front of the robe.

Tony stretched out on his back, one arm behind his head as he watched her. His expression was downright tender as she got Piper snuggled in to nurse.

There was nothing quite like having a sleepy, sweet baby snuggle in and sigh contentedly as she fed. Darcy combed her fingers through what little hair Piper had. Piper had to switch sides halfway through and miraculously didn’t need a new diaper when she was done. Darcy got her settled back into bed, then climbed in beside Tony.

He immediately moved into her side, his arm coming across her waist. “We should do that again.”

“Do what?” She was long-since used to his non-sequiturs.

“Cross genetics and bear offspring.”

Her eyebrows rose, and she turned to look at him. “I  _ just _ became not-pregnant.” Okay, Piper was a little over three months old, but it felt like it had lasted  _ forever _ . “I’m just starting to get my body back.”

“That is a good point.” He pressed his lips against her bare shoulder. “Maybe we can just practice.”

“That I can do.” She smiled as she shifted down to close her mouth over his.

**Author's Note:**

> Another year is done! I hope you all enjoyed it!


End file.
